Last night, Columbia University’s administration finally gave the green light – far, far too late – to the NYPD. The takeover and vandalism of Hamilton Hall was, finally, the last straw.

The last straw should have come weeks ago when the students refused to get off the lawn, but President Shafik absolutely caved after allowing the NYPD to remove protesters the first time, and was apparently hoping to avoid being called a big meanie by these idiot students and their professional advisors by negotiating with them to leave. What did that get her? A modern-day insurrection and anarchist “liberation” of a campus building. And then came the demands. Oh. My. God. The revolution will be televised, but not until they get their DoorDash because the revolution demands gluten-free snacks and proper hydration. These imbeciles are out-parodying themselves, and they are so thick they don’t even realize it.

I can’t believe I have to explain what’s happening here, but here goes. Elite students of Ivy League schools have glamorized oppression so much that they have now reached role play status to satisfy their fantasies. Here, the students have appropriated the suffering of Gazans and… pic.twitter.com/6oyuWortDk

— Elica Le Bon الیکا‌ ل بن (@elicalebon) May 1, 2024

The full tweet reads:

I can’t believe I have to explain what’s happening here, but here goes. Elite students of Ivy League schools have glamorized oppression so much that they have now reached role play status to satisfy their fantasies. Here, the students have appropriated the suffering of Gazans and are cosplaying as living through humanitarian crisis. In their American make-believe story where Ivy League infrastructure sets the scene, the students play Gazans and the school administration plays Israel.

Israel (the school) is blocking their “basic humanitarian aid” in this play, and if they don’t receive it soon, they will “die of thirst and starvation” (appropriating exact experiences of Gazans). They also destroy upper class buildings and claim them as “liberated” while the students repeat chants in zombie-like chorus, playing the roll of “freedom fighters” destroying Israeli infrastructure and claiming them freed. If I’m alive in a world where people don’t see the levels of perversion in this, I give up.

You don’t see this in lower tier schools from kids of lower socio-economic standing because they aren’t plagued with the guilt of privilege that they’re seeking to launder through Middle East role plays of feigned suffering. This is as first world dystopia as it gets.

Meanwhile, these Ivy League students who can have much more than a glass of water and as much food as their stomachs can take are commanding the attention of the media and the entire American audience, while actual Gazans who need humanitarian aid are ignored. I still have to pinch myself that people don’t see this.

Oh, and let’s not forget the chosen spokeswoman for the demands, Johannah King-Slutzky, aka “Keffiyeh Karen.” OF COURSE she’s a Ph.D student and instructor getting a completely useless degree that will only qualify her to teach at Columbia or another Ivy League school. (Hilariously, her bio page on the English department’s website is now suddenly broken! But the internet is forever.)

I did a quick search and found that this lady, who refused to reveal her name, is named Johannah King-Slutzky.

She is a paid instructor & PhD candidate at Columbia studying "theories of the imagination & poetry as interpreted through a Marxian lens"

No, I'm not making this up. https://t.co/CTZ8sbR7cx

— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) April 30, 2024

If this wasn’t such a profoundly painful indictment of Western society, I would be eagerly waiting to see how “South Park” decides to parody all of this. But as it stands, even President Shafik realized that there was no longer a good way to spin or excuse the hostile takeover of a campus building and the aggression toward non-faculty staff. So she finally called up the NYPD to bring Columbia back into order and clear the building. And so they did.

https://twitter.com/estherzelda0514/status/1785512268001898551
Shafik wrote an open letter to Columbia this morning to explain herself – mostly to the faculty, who were part and parcel of this entire fiasco.

Over the last few months, we have been patient in tolerating unauthorized demonstrations, including the encampment. Our academic leaders spent eight days engaging over long hours in serious dialogue in good faith with protest representatives. I thank them for their tireless effort. The University offered to consider new proposals on divestment and shareholder activism, to review access to our dual degree programs and global centers, to reaffirm our commitment to free speech, and to launch educational and health programs in Gaza and the West Bank. Some other universities have achieved agreement on similar proposals. Our efforts to find a solution went into Tuesday evening, but regrettably, we were unable to come to resolution.

Because my first responsibility is safety, with the support of the University’s Trustees, I made the decision to ask the New York City Police Department to intervene to end the occupation of Hamilton Hall and dismantle the main encampment along with a new, smaller encampment. These actions were completed Tuesday night, and I thank the NYPD for their incredible professionalism and support.

I also want to thank all of the many people, including faculty, staff, and especially our public safety officers and facilities workers, for their tireless efforts on behalf of Columbia and to support our students through this difficult period.

But students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech. Many students have also felt uncomfortable and unwelcome because of the disruption and antisemitic comments made by some individuals, especially in the protests that have persistently mobilized outside our gates.

And not only did Shafik authorize the NYPD clearing Hamilton Hall last night, she also asked the NYPD to maintain a presence on campus until May 17th in a letter to the department. Clearly, Shafik is looking to save her job (though that might be a lost cause, as both sides despise her now), because Columbia University’s commencement is scheduled for May 15th. Shafik is apparently determined to hold this commencement, and not go the way of USC and other colleges who have canceled their graduation exercises. That is a good thing, but why did she let things escalate to this point??? Her cowardice is not going to be forgotten.

Meanwhile, with an absolutely stunning sense of timing and self-awareness, the Biden administration announced… MORE STUDENT DEBT FORGIVENESS.

Pitch perfect. No notes. 10/10. https://t.co/URNOFFoB1I

— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) May 1, 2024

How can the Biden administration be this tone-deaf and stupid? First of all, anyone convinced that a degree from the Art Institutes was going to lead to a well-paying job not in a coffee shop was very wrong, and second, there is zero reason that taxpayers should cover the bills for that decision. But how Team Biden thinks this is going to play well between Columbia needing a police presence for the next 17 days just to get through graduation in one piece, and the scenes from UCLA, where administration has abdicated any responsibility for the protests, which led to actual confrontations between the pro-Hamas LARPing anarchists and pro-Israel counter-protesters, I have no idea. Joe Biden cannot even be bothered to – or isn’t able to – say words with his own mouth that would condemn this behavior. And why would he? He is beholden to the radical left, and he needs their votes.

Featured image: protest at the gate of Columbia University on April 22, 2024, by SWinxy via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)